Mamono Hunter Ukyou
Yokkyuu: Flame of Desire
Part 4
By Edward A. Simons
Based on characters and situations created by Takahashi Rumiko. Ranma 1/2 and characters copyright Shogakukan, Kitty Animation Circle, and Takahashi Rumiko. Devil Hunter Yohko and characters copyright NCS, Toho Company, LTD., and Mad House. This story revised 2005 by Edward Simons.
oooooooooooooooooo
You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.
Edgar Allen Poe, "A Dream Within A Dream"
oooooooooooooooooo
"She's gone," the nurse said. The woman had turned pale and seemed unable to say more.
"Yes," Tofu replied, attempting to be reassuring, but there was a sadness in his expression. "I understand that the plan is unorthodox at best, and releasing Ukyou from the hospital wouldn't normally be recommended." He took a deep breath. "But her fiancé and I both believe this is probably the only chance she has. Conventional treatments just weren't helping."
The nurse found her voice. "That's not what I mean, Doctor. That Chinese girl, Lin-Lin, she's gone."
Tofu bowed his head sadly. "I was afraid that was coming. I suppose it was only a matter of time." His shoulders slumped. "I...I guess I'll have to contact her sister, so the proper arrangements can be made. I wonder what Amazon funerals are like?" he said hollowly.
"No, that isn't what I meant, either," the nurse replied in exasperation. I mean Lin-Lin is gone. Missing. No longer in the hospital."
"Did you sear..."
"Of course we searched the entire hospital!" the woman snapped. "She isn't here anywhere. Do you know how much trouble we were in the last time we lost one of these Chinese girls? And this one can't have gotten up and walked off, either."
"At least I hope not," Tofu whispered, recalling forms shrouded in darkness, moving under a power that wasn't theirs.
"What did you say?"
"You're right," he answered in a louder voice, "Lin-Lin couldn't have left on her own. Search again, and I'll make some phone calls."
The nurse sighed and left.
oooooooooooooooooo
Two bodies lay side by side in the middle of a circle chalked on the floor. Both wore dark pants and Chinese style shirts; one red, one blue; though it was easy to tell which was female. An eight-lobed outline that looked vaguely like a huge flower surrounded both them and the circle. Mystic symbols were marked in the center of the circle and in the middle of each flower lobe. A special braided rope placed on wooden poles surrounded everything and paper streamers to ward against evil hung from the rope.
"Did I get it right?" the girl asked.
The boy examined the diagram in the book carefully, finally nodding. "Yes, Azusa, you did," Gosunkugi confirmed. He didn't mention the six previous attempts at drawing.
He didn't mention Tofu's warning phone call, either. If the Doctor's fears were true, if Shinrou was still free in this world, then they were all in danger. Azusa's power probably wasn't enough, so they had to pray this ritual succeeded.
Four people sat around the circle, crammed into the tiny amount of space left between it and the walls of the restaurant. Kurumi to the east and Natsume to the west - joined to Ranma by ties of blood. Shampoo to the north and Konatsu to the south - connected to the boy by shared battle and friendship and love. All would form the link needed to draw Ranma and his fiancée back.
Assuming nothing else failed. After getting a call from the psychic, Miyo, Gosunkugi had spent a week drilling the words of power into Azusa's skull, for only she as the Assistant Mamono Hunter could perform this magic. Gosunkugi could have quoted the words in his sleep, but he had no magic to empower them. Success, even survival for both Ranma and Ukyou would depend on the empty-headed skater's memory.
"Did Miyo guarantee this would work?" Ranma called from the center of the circle, where he lay next to Ukyou.
Gosunkugi answered. "She said something about too many lines of fate, too many things for her to see all the futures, let alone tell which is most likely."
"In other words, no," Ranma replied dryly, though the faint smile soon left his face.
"There are too many variables for her to predict anything," Gosunkugi stated.
Ranma nodded, preferring to believe the future depended on his efforts, not the arbitrary hand of fate.
"Is everyone ready?" Gosunkugi asked.
"Not yet." It was Natsume, the older of Ranma's sisters. "Ranma, have you told your mother about my sister and myself? Or about this attempt to save your fiancée?"
"Sorry," her brother replied, "after what happened to Ucchan, I forgot to tell her about you two. And it's better if Mom doesn't know what we're trying to do here, anyway."
"That probably is for best," Natsume replied. "Your mother didn't seem to like Ukyou very much, and I doubt she would accept my sister and myself, either."
Ranma glanced at the girl he lay next to, then stared at the ceiling. "Listen, Natsume, Kurumi, if this doesn't work..."
"I trust you, big brother," Kurumi interrupted. No one else said anything for a while.
"Thanks," Ranma sighed, "but I ain't got any idea what I'm doing here, and I don't think martial arts is gonna help at all." He sat up and looked his older sister in the eyes, though the fingers of his right hand remained interlaced with Ukyou's. "Anyways, Sis, if this doesn't work, I want you guys to have the restaurant and I'm sure Ucchan would want you to have it, too." He stared down at his fiancée, then glanced back at Natsume. "It's past time you two had a place to stay."
"Thank you," Natsume replied, tears in her eyes. "And I promise I'll take care of the others." She gestured towards Konatsu and Shampoo. "I promise that they will still have a place to live."
The indicated pair looked at each other. Shampoo opened her mouth, then closed it. Konatsu nodded. Neither of them had anywhere else to go, either.
"But you're coming back, aren't you, big brother?" Kurumi's voice was oddly quiet.
"I, um, we need to get started," Gosunkugi interrupted.
Ranma lay back, trying and failing to relax. He looked to his right again, seeing Ukyou's still form. He barely noticed Azusa chanting words he didn't understand. The boy reached out, placing the back of his hand against Ukyou's cheek, feeling the unnatural warmth.
His lips moved in the faintest of whispers. "Kami-sama, please. I never asked for nothing before. I don't know what's gonna happen now."
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
"Just let us be together."
He leaned forward and kissed her.
Yokkyuu, the Mamono of desire smiled a mocking smile. It planned to grant Ranma's wish, though not in the way the boy intended.
oooooooooooooooooo
Another body lay alone in the center of another mystic diagram on the floor of another restaurant. Mousse's drawing was much less elaborate, a simple octagon with symbols from the I Ching in each of the eight directions, enclosed in an outer octagon.
The boy began to name the directions. "To the south, Li, the Sun. To the southwest, K'un, the Earth. To the west, Tui, the Lake. To the northwest Ch'ien the Heavens."
Mousse paused, lighting some incense as Ran-Ran continued the chant.
"To the north, K'an, the Sea. To the northeast, Ken, the Mountain. To the east, Chen, the Thunder. To the southeast, Sun, the Forest."
The girl fell silent. For the rest of the ritual, Mousse would be making the mystic gestures, lighting the incense, pouring the potions, and chanting the words of power. All Ran-Ran could do was watch and pray that the ceremony worked, that her sister would be returned to her.
There was no chance of that. Succeed or fail, Mousse expected to die, but the soul he sought to recall belonged to a different Chinese Amazon. He shivered, suddenly cold, suddenly realizing how alone he was. Kodachi had asked if she could attend, but he couldn't bear to invite her. She wouldn't understand, would try to stop him if she knew his true intentions.
And he couldn't afford to be weak.
Mousse closed his eyes, trying to focus on the ritual, but instead he saw the Japanese girl's eyes, the eyes of the only woman to look at him with respect. Ranma and Ryouga had respected his skills when they'd fought together against Tarou's monstrous cursed form or the warriors of the Musk Dynasty. But no *woman* had ever respected his martial arts abilities, no woman had shown disappointment instead of contempt when his skills were weak.
Except her.
Mousse shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts and regain the focus he needed for the ritual. The boy took a deep breath and glanced at the clock. He sighed and removed his glasses.
I won't be needing them again and I've rehearsed this so many times I have the ritual memorized.
oooooooooooooooooo
Ranma blinked and sat up. He hadn't even felt the transition to here, wherever and whatever here was.
"Not what I expected."
It was warm, very warm, and a bit humid. A thousand scents filled his nostrils, and everywhere he looked was a riot of greenery. More plants than he'd ever seen, no two the same, filled his vision. A closer look showed flowers and fruit as well, every kind he knew of and many others besides. And over it all hung a mist, like the steam above a hot springs.
"Great, I'm in a stupid jungle. It's gonna take forever to find Ucchan."
He stood and began to turn when she tackled him, burying him in kisses. Only then did he realize they were both naked.
oooooooooooooooooo
He didn't remember finding the spring, but now they sat together in it. He looked up seeing a whiteness suffused with light past the tops of the foliage. "Ucchan, how long were you here before I showed up?"
"It felt like forever." She shivered, recalling the old loneliness.
"How many days since I got here?" he asked.
She frowned.
"You don't know either," he said.
She nodded. "We can't see the sun." She frowned again. "But it never gets dark, unless it does when we're asleep."
"I think we're asleep now, Ucchan."
"What?"
"Think about it," he said. "It's too perfect. Just the two of us, no pressures, no problems, no one ever attacks or..." he blushed, "...or interrupts. When we're hungry there's always fruit. If we're thirsty there's always a pool of clean, cool fresh water."
"But it's never cold enough to trigger your curse, Ranchan."
He shook his head. "So it ain't real, but it's trying to be real. It seems kinda like that Eden place I heard about. Maybe that's why it's incomplete, 'cause I don't know much about some gaijin version of paradise."
"Paradise?" she snorted. "Maybe that's what the Mamono was trying for, but this place was hell for me."
"Hell?" He scratched his head. "But there's all the food you could want, no hassles, no worries..."
"No you," she said looking straight in his eyes. "I've thought about the future, hoped and dreamed for a future with you. Anything else is a bonus, even a roof over our heads. Anything's better than being alone, than living a life without you."
"Um." He paused, clearly at a loss for something to say. "Um, thanks, Ucchan." He fell silent again for a bit. "So I guess we got everything we need here, everything except..."
"I'm not sure, seems like there was something. I mean, this relaxing is nice, and I, um, I sure want you in my life, too, but there's something missing here."
Ukyou considered. "Maybe...is it because there's no challenge?"
"Sort of. That's some of it. And I sure don't wanna end up getting soft."
"I don't have any complaints about that," she said with an impish smile.
"Huh?"
She sighed. "Ranchan, you can be so dense sometimes. But you're right that there's something missing." She stretched languidly, letting him enjoy the view, then stared at her left hand."
"You thinking about rings?" he asked. "Pops said girls..."
"Rings?" She frowned. "Weren't you just saying something about the place trying to be real?"
He frowned as well. "Yeah, but it's hard to remember, like it happened weeks ago." His eyes widened. "Yeah, this place ain't real, but something's trying to make it real.
"A Mamono," she said firmly. "Wait, I don't have my Yoma ring or my pendant. How could I miss that? Why didn't I notice that before?"
"The monster's messing with our minds," he replied, "making our thoughts fuzzy, making us forget."
She pulled away suddenly, the water sloshing at her movement. "If a Mamono's doing this, trying to give us our dreams, then how..." Her voice trailed away, and she stared at the surface of the pool. "If that's what's going on," she continued softly, "then how do I know you're you, Ranchan? How do I know you're any more real than the image I see there?" She struck the water, fracturing their reflection as waves danced across the pool. "If the rest of this is fake, then how..."
"I promised I'd always take care of you," he said firmly. "This is just...now that I'm remembering...our spirits are here. Our bodies are back in the real world, and if I don't get you out, then..."
"Ranchan?"
"We're both real, Ucchan, cause we both remember this place isn't real, cause the dream is nice, but we ain't gonna settle for a dream. I promised I'd always take care of you, and I promise I...no, I promise we will find a way outta here."
She grabbed him and hung on. He felt her trembling with emotion and wrapped his arms around her. "So what do we do?" she asked. He saw the trust in her expression and it scared him. She was depending on him, but he had no idea what to do.
"Um, close your eyes." He shut his as well.
"So we don't get distracted by the illusion?" she asked.
"Um, yeah, that too, I guess. Keep hanging on tight and keep your eyes closed. Let's start walking and focus on wanting to be somewhere else."
oooooooooooooooooo
"I'm bored. How long is this going to take?"
Gosunkugi sighed. "You've asked at least a dozen times, Azusa, but I still don't know. Ranma's only been unconscious for half an hour."
"I hate waiting," the girl insisted.
"Azusa, both their lives depend on us being awake when we need to pull their spirits back."
"That could be hours," Natsume stated.
"Yes," Gosunkugi nodded.
"Why don't we take turns napping?" Natsume asked. "Otherwise, we may all be asleep by the time they need us."
"That makes sense," the skinny boy replied, "but if they're ready to escape and all four of you aren't focused or Azusa isn't prepared to finish the spell, then they'll lose the connection back to the real world. Then we'll fail and they'll die."
oooooooooooooooooo
There was a silence, a silence so full he could feel it. He didn't open his eyes, but he felt the ground beneath his bare feet and Ukyou clinging to his arm. He concentrated, trying to feel the way out.
Then she was smashed against him with superhuman force and they both slammed to the rough, unyielding ground. He rolled to his feet, pulling her with him. She hung limply in his arms, but he felt her moving. "I've got you, Ucchan." He knew he said the words, but he couldn't hear them,
This time he was struck, falling on top of her. Pain blazed across his side, and he thought of being hit by Aijou, remembered silent steel fists that struck far harder than Ryouga ever had, harder than even Tarou's monstrous cursed form.
Ranma moved to his feet more slowly this time and lifted his fiancée in his arms. He still heard nothing, nothing at all, not even his own ragged breathing. He wanted to open his eyes, but somehow he knew if he did, they'd be trapped again. But he wasn't going to stand still and get hammered to death, either. He began to run, still carrying Ukyou, not caring where he was going.
Another fist slammed him to the ground.
He rose again, more slowly, and ran. This time he dodged, luck or instinct prompting him to move away from the unseen threat.
It wasn't enough. Something attacked out of the darkness, striking again with that inhuman strength. He felt something give in his side as he parted company with the ground and spun through the air. He landed poorly, unable to see the ground, felt an ankle snap like a stick of dry bamboo, and fell heavily, twisting so she landed atop him.
He coughed, even though he couldn't hear the sound, and tasted blood in his mouth. He felt her lips brush his, felt her pull him to his feet and they hobbled forward into the darkness.
oooooooooooooooooo
Yokkyuu was surprised at how ungrateful the humans were. They were simple creatures, bound by the desire to flee pain and embrace pleasure. It had even chosen to give them the gentler way to destruction, giving them a taste of heaven, making them forget their cares. Eventually, their bodies would fade, leaving only their spirits trapped together in a shroud of warmth and light and lies.
Besides, it was the safest way. They'd resist simple, direct destruction, and that resistance would cost it power. If the Hunter remembered, it could even destroy Yokkyuu. Better the slower, sure fade to forgetfulness. Giving the Mamono Hunter everything she desired would be a small price for ruling her world. Yokkyuu would succeed where the other Mamonos had failed, would enjoy amusing itself with an endless succession of fleshy toys, seeking new ones as the old were consumed from within.
But the Hunter and her Guardian had tried to flee the false pleasures.
So it gave them a bit of hell. The girl was semiconscious now; the boy was fading. Yokkyuu knew they would stop soon, nothing human could stand pain forever. It was a primal need, a basic desire, but the Mamono intended to turn that instinct for survival into another method of destroying them, a tool to keep them from forcing their way out of the creature's trap. And if one bright snare had failed it would create another, it would spin as many worlds as it needed, weaving reality and imagination together, delaying them with dreams until they lacked the strength to escape.
oooooooooooooooooo
Ranma Ozaki's arms rested on the metal rim of the tank turret, her head and shoulders extending into the open air. She raised her arm to her face, realizing she wore a transparent facemask.
The bacterial cloud. The density is high today. With Earth's ruined ecology, even the air was dangerous at times. Unprotected lungs would inhale the invisible menace, would slowly fill and suffocate.
Ranma reached back, noticing her pigtail was gone, then glanced down at her body, seeing it clad in some sort of uniform.
What? Tank Police? It seemed wrong, and yet right. Ranma lived for the thrill of combat and she wanted to protect those weaker than herself. But a tank is so impersonal.
She ran a hand down her side, wondering why it didn't hurt, then wondering why she'd ever wondered that.
The roar of engines interrupted her thoughts and she rotated the minitank's turret towards the sound. At first there she saw nothing, but the sound was approaching rapidly.
"What is it?" the tank's driver, U Kyou Ad Solt called from within the vehicle. "More of Buaku's gang?"
"Probably," Ranma called back, her voice muffled by the breath mask. She peered into the haze. Even at its worst, the bacterial cloud wasn't this deep, now it hung as a mist over the city, shrouding everything in a deadly fog.
Screeching tires joined the sound of engines as a pair of motorcycles slid round the corner, leaving swirls of fog behind them. Bullets rang off the side of the turret and Ranma ducked inside its shelter.
"Those idiots scratched Bonaparte!" she snarled. "Reverse the tank, we're gonna get some payback." She popped her head out, bracing herself as the tank slewed around, treads shredding the pavement, then accelerated.
The motorcycles accelerated, lunging down the gray, empty streets; but even if they managed to outrun the minitank, they couldn't outrun its weaponry. Ranma fired a flare shell, just as she saw a rocket spiraling in from the fog ahead. The two collided, detonating uncomfortably close as U Kyou stood on the brakes, bring the tank to a sliding stop.
The light faded, but the fog had burned away, revealing their android opponents, the fair-haired Unipuma and her purple-tressed sister Shanpuma. Ranma ignored their threats and insults, and froze, remembering just what they were, feline female androids.
Ranma remembered claws and screams, blood and pleading, pain and fear; and she felt the feral fury calling. "Leave while you still can," she spat and the android catgirls fled into the fog.
"Ranchan?" U Kyou had tried to squeeze through the turret hatch, though there wasn't really room and they were squashed together in an embarrassing manner. The closeness felt both wrong and right. Ranma gazed into her partner's eyes.
Wait a minute. Since when is Ucchan a guy?
Ranma blinked and took a deep breath. "This is another trap."
"I know. When I saw them through the viewslit, then looked up and saw the way you froze, heard the way you growled those words. I knew it was you remembering the cats, I realized this was just a dream."
"No, more than a dream, Ucchan. A trap. Normally, it takes a lot more than that to trigger the Cat Fist, but I could feel myself slipping into it. That's why it's gotta be a trap. When I'm...like that, I could shred this tank, I could shred anything...or anyone."
"It's alright, Ranchan."
"No, it ain't. I can't control it. I could hurt..."
"You'd never hurt me," Ukyou insisted.
Ranma gave a short sharp laugh. "Aijou sure showed me different. So did Ikari. But Kami-sama willing, I'm gonna try not to hurt you again."
They closed their eyes.
oooooooooooooooooo
She felt the water rushing in her ears, felt the weight, the pressure around her. Her fingers were interlaced with his and she pulled him close, grateful they were both in their natural forms again, even if they were naked. She smiled, but did not open her eyes, and together they began swimming towards the surface.
There was none. They continued until lungs were empty, till limbs could barely move and then she pressed her lips to his.
oooooooooooooooooo
Rachel Kuonji woke in the strange, cluttered room that was her only refuge. The piano was the oddest, the thing she would never have expected of Ranma Decker, the man who'd been sent to kill her, but refused. The man she thought she loved.
If anything is real here. My thoughts, my dreams, my emotions, are they mine or do they belong to Tyrell's niece?
And she sat up, knowing Ranma would be at the door. She opened it before he could knock and saw his rain soaked clothes, the hint of blood in the corner of his mouth, the mangled hand and the gun he clutched in it.
And she saw the origami unicorn on the floor, knew she would step on it as they moved to the elevator, towards whatever fate they might share.
"Ranchan, this isn't real."
He hesitated, then stared at the gun he carried. "Yeah, this ain't my style. Besides I coulda beaten that Roy guy."
"Don't be an idiot," she replied, though she was smiling. "This world isn't like home, and this thing is making us forget what we could do there so we can't do it here."
He nodded and took her hand.
oooooooooooooooooo
"Ucchan." The wind tried to tear his words away as the cold forced its way into his lungs.
"I'm here. It's so cold." She pressed her body against his. Driving snow struck them, melting from their body heat and then refreezing, coating their bare skin in a layer of ice that popped and cracked with every movement. The storm bit at them, trying to force them backwards.
"Just hang on," he pled. "We got to start walking. We'll find some clothes and some shelter."
"How m...m...much farther," she asked.
"I...I dunno." He didn't even know if they were going the right direction, since he didn't dare open his eyes. The wind was getting stronger, gusts nearly knocking them off their feet.
And that gave him his answer. He turned into the heart of the storm and led her towards where the wind was fiercest. They strode forward into the blizzard, driving towards freedom until their legs failed them.
oooooooooooooooooo
Waiting at the dock had been the hardest part, but now they were moving into the darkening storm, crossing Tokyo Bay towards the Ark, control center of the Babylon Project.
"Are we doing the right thing?" Ranma Izumi whispered. The wind and the driving rain swallowed the short redhead's words. She certainly didn't expect an answer.
"This isn't like you, Ranma." Ukyou Shinohara stood nearby, looking over the rail at the surging water. "Brooding, I mean." He looked over at his forward, pilot of one of the two Ingram patrol labors used by the Police's Special Vehicle Division, Section 2.
"I'm used to winning," Ranma replied, "but we can't fix the damage that madman caused."
"But we can keep it from spreading," Ukyou said. "We can still save lives. That's something."
A brief smile lit Ranma's face, a reminder of her normal cheerful expression. She looked over at Ukyou, his form hidden by the billowing rain slicker. He's the clever one and he's always there for me. I wish we could get married, but then they'd transfer one of us to another section. I just hate the sneaking around. If only...
"Wait, didn't I used to have a pigtail?" Ranma asked.
"What?"
"It's like a dream that I can't quite remember." She looked up at Ukyou, and saw something in his eyes. She stood on tiptoe, reaching to kiss him. Her lips brushed his and then she felt a sudden wave of dizziness.
"What was that?" they exclaimed in unison.
"I don't know, Ranchan." Ukyou hesitated. "Why did I call you Ranchan? What's going..."
"It's getting better, Ucchan. The Mamono. In this world we can make a difference; we can help people. And there are people here so much like friends of ours, Ryouga Ohta with his temper and blind charging into battle, Tofu Shinsei who worries about his wife Kasumi. We could live in a world like this. But this isn't real. We have to fight it."
"If this isn't real, Ranchan, then how come I can remember what it was like to..." He turned deep red. "So...so...that's what it feels like for the guy. The Mamono must be feeding me your memories."
Ranma turned even redder. "Then these are your memories of what it's like for a girl to do it. Oh kami, Ucchan, I'm sorry. Guess I'm still too busy doing what I want to, instead of..."
Ukyou was silent, almost paralyzed with embarrassment.
"Let's get out of here, Ucchan."
A feeble nod was the only reply.
oooooooooooooooooo
It was like acid in his blood, burning in his veins. He heard Ukyou gasp and fall to her knees, but she didn't let go of his hand. She tried to speak, but it came out as a whimper of pain.
"Come on, Ucchan." He pulled her to her feet and she wrapped her arms around him.
"Is...is this what...it felt like...when Ikari..."
"Yeah, it's a lot like..."
"Well, I'm not letting go this time, either, Ranchan." He heard strength in her voice, behind the pain. They staggered forward, while Yokkyuu cursed their efforts.
oooooooooooooooooo
Ten-year-old Ukyou Kinamoto stared at the winged pendant she wore, the sign that she was the Card Captor. Dimly, she realized her older brother Hayato and her Chinese classmate Li Shaoran Ma were glaring at each other again, though she didn't understand why. Her best friend, Konatsu, with her long dark hair, stood nearby ignoring the potential squabble as she filmed Ukyou.
Ukyou grasped the pendant and smiled.
"Ranchan, the Mamono isn't getting smarter. It's just trying things at random, pulling them from our memories and it just made a big mistake."
"Magic works here," she beamed. She gestured and the Yoma ring appeared on her left hand. Crimson energy glowed and the winged pendant shifted to the stylized ying-yang of the Shimi-Seki pendant, Hayato and Konatsu disappeared, and Ukyou and Ranma's bodies shifted to their proper age of seventeen.
Then Yokkyuu shattered its own illusion, dropping them into the darkness.
oooooooooooooooooo
"Ranchan? Where are you?"
"I'm here." Though he could see nothing, he reached out his fingers, stretching towards her voice. His hand encountered something soft and round. She gasped and took his hand in both of hers.
"This is the first time we weren't touching when we dropped outta one of them weird dreams," he said. "I didn't want to lose you."
"Thanks. He felt her lips touch his, then after a bit pull away. "So how come we can't see anything even though we didn't close our eyes?" she asked. "And just where are we?"
"Shinrou," he replied.
"What?"
"This Mamono's trying to repeat the pain all those other one caused. First, the way Aijou hammered on us. Then the way Haradachi tried to drown you. Then the way we nearly froze afterwards. Then Ikari's poison burning inside me. This is Shinrou, trying to trap me in the darkness with my fears. This Mamono thinks it's being smart, dropping us into a trap where there's no physical way out."
Then he laughed. "Listen, you stupid Mamono! This didn't work when it was real, because I knew Ucchan was there waiting for me. This dumb illusion of yours sure ain't gonna stop us now!"
"Moko Takabisha," he called and the light of his chi attack annihilated the darkness.
oooooooooooooooooo
Yokkyuu's normal mocking expression had disappeared. It had made two mistakes in a row and the Mamono Hunter and her Guardian had nearly freed themselves. It sifted through their memories, looking for another world of fiction, one with no magic whatsoever.
Perfect. Nothing fancy. I'll just kill her. If that level of pain wasn't enough to stop them, it would have to try something worse.
All Ukyou Schibeicker had to pilot was an obsolete Taurus and her mech was being pursued across the unforgiving void of space by a pair of state-of-the-art Mobile Suits programmed with the abilities of two of the greatest pilots of that world, Tsubasa Barton and Tatewaki Yui. She'd be lucky to survive long enough to scream "It's a Gundam!"
But she did, maneuvering frantically in what should have been a metal deathtrap. A lifespan that should have been moments stretched to minutes, as the Mamono cursed.
And then it smiled its strange mocking smile again. Even she couldn't dodge everything and even the glancing hits were reducing her mech into battered scrap leaking precious atmosphere. Ukyou tasted blood on her lip, knew something was broken inside. She closed her eyes, whispered her lover's name, waited for it to end.
There was an explosion and a burning ball of flame that faded into darkness.
Ukyou opened her eyes and smiled, seeing Ranma Maxwell's Gundam, knowing the machine that signaled death to most symbolized a chance at life for her. She glanced at the viewscreen. One of her tormentors was gone, the machine that held the electronic copy of Tsubasa Barton. The imitation of Tatewaki Yui followed moments later.
"Ranchan, you didn't..." Her vision was graying, and she felt so very, very tired. "... you didn't leave me...this time..." She heard him call her name over the communicator, heard the anguish in his voice. "I'm sorry...please...remember...I always loved you."
Then everything faded to darkness.
oooooooooooooooooo
"Azusa, Azusa, wake up," Gosunkugi insisted.
"Wha...?"
"You drifted off again." He looked at the others, seeing Shampoo's determination, Natsume's fear, Konatsu's concern, and Kurumi's cheerful optimism. Gosunkugi stifled a yawn and realized all four appeared to be near exhaustion as well. Being soul anchors was a very draining experience.
"Azusa, can you sense Ranma's spirit?"
The girl concentrated a moment. "He's almost free and he has Ukyou." She looked at the others, focusing on the cute ninja. "Pierre, if I defeat this Mamono will you go on another date with me?"
Konatsu blushed, Shampoo growled, and they nearly lost their focus.
oooooooooooooooooo
Mousse bowed his head and sighed. "It's time," he whispered, but there was no reply. He didn't expect one. It was nearly midnight, but Ran-Ran had fallen asleep shortly after she lit the incense. That was no accident. The Chinese boy had laced the scent with a sleep-inducing drug, while he was protected by an antidote.
He stared at nothing for a moment, trying to hide the turmoil within. He took a deep breath and began reciting the final words of the spell that would trade his life for Shampoo's. He produced a sealed flask from beneath his robes and spun it once, watching the strange azure liquid inside move like a living thing, glittering strangely in the candlelight.
"The substitution is freely offered."
He reached forward, preparing to pour the elixir over Lin-Lin's body. A gymnastics ribbon snagged his wrist and spun him around.
"What do you think you are doing?" Kodachi's Mandarin was almost flawless.
oooooooooooooooooo
She wrinkled her nose. "Ranchan, I sure don't want to open my eyes here. This smells like..."
"It's the storm drain," he stated. "Shinrou again. And my eyes are open, not that I'm seeing much of anything. I dunno why, but I don't think we have to close 'em anymore."
"You're right," she said. "I can feel it. We're so close we don't have to do that to focus on the way out."
They stood in a replica of the storm drain, but there were no exits. They heard a deep groaning noise and the roof fell towards them, raining chunks of concrete. She gestured and an emerald bubble of energy surrounded them both.
"Thanks." Then Ranma laughed again. "Yokkyuu, is that the best you can do, you stupid monster?"
oooooooooooooooooo
"How? How did you get here?"
Kodachi smiled and gestured towards the hole Ryouga had smashed in the wall. "You should have fixed that with more than a tarp if you didn't want visitors, Mousse. Really, just how long has it been." Her tone was mocking. "Now as I said, what do you think you're doing?"
"I..."
"And don't lie," she continued. "I recognize that expression. You intend to die."
The Chinese boy was silent for a moment. "You don't understand. Fate brought Ran-Ran to me, and who am I to fight fate? I owe it to Shampoo for not being there when she was crippled. I wasn't there any of the times she needed me. This is my chance for redemption."
"You mean destruction, Mousse," she said softy. "It sounds so brave and noble. It even sounds romantic." Her voice grew louder, her tone firmer. "But it's pointless. Don't waste your life for a girl who won't be grateful even if this nonsense works and you actually save her."
"I don't expect Shampoo to be grateful," he replied quietly. "I certainly won't win her love." He gave a bitter chuckle. "All I ever was to her was a pathetic, annoying pest. I may have lived as a fool, but let me die as a hero." He looked at the ribbon encircling his wrist, then stared into Kodachi's eyes. "It's my life, Kodachi. Don't I have a right to choose how it ends?"
The ribbon disappeared, but she still looked straight at him. "No, Mousse, not if that death hurts anybody else. If Ranma and Ukyou, who probably hate me, could save me from myself, then I can save you from yourself."
The ribbon lashed out again and the flask with Sapphire Essence Resurrection Elixir went spinning through the air.
oooooooooooooooooo
Ranma Moteuchi stood at the bottom of a stairway of crumbling glass. Ukyou Amano, the Video Girl, was imprisoned at the top and he knew her very existence depended on his reaching her. Around was a formless void, as if nothing else existed here.
He began to run, his feet blurring with the speed he normally used in the Kachu Tenshin Amiguriken. The last time he'd tried it while training for a rematch against the girls he hadn't known were *his* sisters, he was able to run a few steps across the surface of the canal.
Glass was harder than water. It cracked, shattered, and plunged in the darkness behind him, but he was in no danger as long as he kept moving. In moments he was at Ukyou's side. He tore her free of her imprisonment and offered his shirt to cover her nakedness, but she was too busy kissing him to care about that.
oooooooooooooooooo
The flask plunged downwards and Mousse caught it inches before it would have shattered against the floor of the restaurant. He made a sudden gesture and it disappeared. A second motion and he wore his glasses again. A third gesture brought a bladed polearm into his hands and he turned towards Kodachi.
This time he wasn't holding back.
He threw the weapon, but Kodachi used her gymnastics ribbon to snatch up a table and block. "Fei Ying Chuan." Long narrow blades appeared between the Chinese boy's fingers. "Strike of the Soaring Eagle." They whistled forward. Four struck the table, two the wall, one severed the gymnastics ribbon, and the last parted the right shoulder strap of Kodachi's leotard.
The girl hardly noticed, dropping the remains of the ribbon and launching a pair of gymnastics clubs at the boy. He twisted to the side, avoiding both, but they bounced off the wall behind him and one struck him in the shoulder.
"Do you give up?" the girl smiled.
He shook his head and the gymnast produced another pair of clubs and charged. Another weapon appeared in Mousse's hands. It looked a lot like a nunchaku, but with three lengths of wood connected by chains and was accurately if unimaginatively called a three-section staff.
Wood clattered against wood, as Kodachi drove the boy backwards towards a cluster of tables and chairs stacked near the wall. Before he could collide with the furniture, the Chinese boy rolled to the side and drew one leg up into a Crane Stance, balancing easily. The clubs blurred in the girl's hands, but his weapon and stance both favored the defense, and eventually she made a mistake. Half-a-dozen gymnastics clubs were knocked from her hands and flew behind her, bouncing off the far wall to clatter uselessly to the floor.
Momentarily disarmed, Kodachi backflipped across the room and a ball appeared in her hands. Before she could throw her weapon a pair of needle-thin feathered darts struck it, releasing the gas inside. The girl coughed and stepped backwards, but she was smiling.
"I've built up an immunity to the gas, Mousse."
"I'm not surprised," he replied.
Kodachi's smile evaporated and she glanced at the third dart stuck in her right shoulder. "I didn't feel it." It was unpleasantly like her introduction to Ikari. "You coated the tip with something that does that."
He nodded.
"And there's something else. I'll be sleeping for a while, won't I, Mousse?"
"And you won't be able to move."
He caught her as she collapsed. "I won," he whispered, "I beat a woman in combat for the first time." There was no triumph in his tone, no joy, only a strange sour feeling in his stomach and a burning ache in his chest.
oooooooooooooooooo
"Ranchan?" She stood naked and unarmed in the middle of a gray, featureless plain. The sky above was a lighter gray, but there were no clouds and only a dim suffusion of light instead of a sun.
"I'm here," her fiancée called from behind and to her left.
She turned, smiling, to face him. "Looks like the Mamono ran out of power creating things. And we're almost out, I can feel it."
He cursed and she saw them as well. Half a hundred spinning blades had just materialized, hovering in the air. They looked like elongated versions of the gaijin letter S, nearly the length of an arm, made of a strange gray metal that blended into the colorless sky. Every edge appeared sharp, with nothing even resembling a handle.
"I guess this Mamono's saving its energy for something else," she sighed.
A dozen blades swooped towards the teens, who barely leapt out of the way.
"Looks like Yokkyuu came up with an original attack," she added, rolling to her feet and glancing about at the sky. The blades continued circling as the Mamono waited for an opening.
"Nope," Ranma answered, "it's based on the sword Kuno backstabbed me with. It is more clever than those last two tries." He spun to the side as a pair of blades razored by, drawing thin lines of blood across his bare chest.
"Ranchan!"
"It's just a scratch," he insisted.
"I wish I had my weapons," she called, spinning to avoid a couple more blades.
"I wish I had my pants," he replied. "How come we always end up naked in these bits?" He clapped his hand together, trapping a spinning blade between them. "First time I wished I knew the Breaking Point."
"Less talk, Ranchan." She ducked, feeling the blade whistle past the top of her head, close enough she probably would have lost a half-inch of hair ribbon if she'd been wearing anything. "We need a plan."
"You block 'em with magic."
"Magic?"
"Yeah, just do whatever you did to keep that fake storm drain from crushing us."
"How did I...?" She held up her left hand, and stared at the Yoma ring. "Got it, Ranchan, but it's gonna take time for my chant." She spun again and ducked, avoiding another flying blade.
"No problem," he called, jumping in front of her and using the trapped weapon to deflect another, then tossing the blade down to embed it in the ground. A nimbus of golden chi formed around each of Ranma's hands and he released the energy with a shout, striking several blades with each blast, knocking them from the empty gray sky.
"Ucchan?"
"Oh, yeah," she blushed, tearing her eyes from his naked form and began the chant. "I hold no enmity against those coerced into evil..."
He grabbed the blade he'd pinned in the earth and flung it past her, where it collided with another, both weapons spinning wildly to crash into the ground.
"...but to those vile beings who toy with the hearts and souls of men," she continued. "Since the time of Ancient Gods, we have been your destroyers!"
Ranma leapt past her, grabbing another blade from the air.
"Now, the 108th generation Devil Hunter, Ukyou, is here!" She spun through the air and landed, her soulblade gripped in her hands. "At least I know how this works," she muttered.
"Hey, Ucchan, how come you still ain't got no clothes on?"
"Um." Only the metallic wrist and ankle bands had appeared. "Never mind that, which way do we go?" she called.
"The hardest way," he called back. "The way the Mamono doesn't want us to go. I think I got us a path cleared."
The fallen blades, whether struck by chi or each other, spiraled back into the air. Both teens cursed in unison and charged.
oooooooooooooooooo
Mousse stood over Lin-Lin's body a second time. Again the flask appeared in his hands.
"The substitution is freely offered."
He unstoppered the flask and it shattered in his hand.
"Fool," Kodachi cursed and finally collapsed.
He didn't know if the girl's statement was meant for herself or for him, but the Sapphire Essence Resurrection Elixir had been held directly above Ran-Ran and now it covered her. Nothing happened and he wasn't sure if he was relieved or sorry.
And then Lin-Lin's form began glowing with a faint blue pearlescent glow. Her body rose into the air and strange dark mists began swirling around her.
Mousse found his voice. "I call for the spirit of Shan Pu of the Nyuchezu tribe of the Bayankala Mountains of the Middle Kingdom."
The light continued growing and the mists continued to swirl around the girl. His part in the ritual was over, except for the final price, so he moved to Kodachi's side and dropped to a sitting position. He cradled her head in his lap and softly brushed the girl's hair away from her face as he waited for the guardians of the underworld to carry away his spirit instead of Shampoo's.
oooooooooooooooooo
"Gosunkugi?"
He blinked, realizing he'd almost fallen asleep. At least the others had something to do, maintaining Ranma's link to the real world.
"Gosunkugi?" Kurumi's voice was stronger, more insistent. "I think Shampoo fainted."
"Keep focusing on Ranma and Ukyou," he replied. "I'll wake her up."
The Chinese girl lay still and unmoving, and suddenly Gosunkugi felt very, very cold. He touched her, but she didn't react. He called her name and shook her shoulder gently. Her head lolled like a rag doll and her eyes were blank and empty.
He spun towards the others. "Something's wrong. Azusa, you need to use your powers. The rest of you stay focused."
That was much more easily said than done. The balance was disrupted, and the other three truly felt the drain of being Ranma's soul anchors for the first time.
oooooooooooooooooo
"Sorry, Ranchan, I wish I knew how to do whatever I did in the storm drain to protect us." Both of them were bleeding, but none of the wounds were serious. Not yet.
"That's okay, at least your magic battle spatula can actually break these things." His attacks had only slowed the spinning blades.
She dropped suddenly to her knees. "Something's wrong, Ranchan. I can't sense the way out anymore. No, it's still there, but it's flickering, fading."
He turned towards her. "Close your eyes and focus, Ucchan. I'll take care of with the blades."
They chose that moment to dive, a dozen blades visible over his shoulder, diving for his unprotected back. "Ranchan!" She was on her feet again, leaping straight over him even as he turned. He heard a pair of meaty thunks, but he screamed louder than she did.
oooooooooooooooooo
"I don't understand. I just don't understand." Azusa turned to Gosunkugi.
"What don't you understand," the boy replied. "Shampoo...she...she's gone...her spirit is gone," the girl babbled.
"Was she pulled in with Ranma and Ukyou?" Strain showed on Natsume's face and sweat beaded on her forehead. "Azusa, it's not easy with only three of us maintaining the link, so answer my question."
"She's gone," the other girl repeated. "She's not with them. She's just gone."
Konatsu leaped across the circle and grabbed Shampoo's limp body. He turned with tear-filled eyes. "Please," he begged. "I'll go on another date with you, just bring Shampoo back."
"I...I don't know how." Azusa was crying, too.
All eyes turned to Gosunkugi. "There's nothing in the notes. I don't know why this is happening. It shouldn't be happening. It doesn't make any sense!"
oooooooooooooooooo
A pair of teens lay on a barren shore near a bloody sea. He wore an ordinary school uniform. She wore a skintight crimson bodysuit, but one eye and one arm were swathed in bandages.
"I feel sick," the girl whispered.
"Don't move, Ucchan. Oh Kami, how come you're still hurt? The injuries always went away when the Mamono dropped us into another world."
"I don't know." She coughed faintly "But the link, the way out of here, it's still there, but it's growing weaker. If you hurry, I think you can still make it out."
"And leave you behind?" His hand clenched into fists, longing for something tangible to destroy. "I already made that mistake when I was six, but I ain't ever gonna do it again."
"Please," she begged. "I'll be okay, as long as I know you're safe."
He shook his head and spoke softly. "I can't do that, Ucchan. I promised I'd always take care of you. I keep my promises."
"I'll let you break that promise." But she knew his answer before he spoke.
oooooooooooooooooo
Why is it raining indoors?
Kodachi opened her eyes and realized it was Mousse's tears falling on her cheek.
"Fool." She still didn't explain if she meant the Chinese boy or herself or both.
"I...I'm still alive," he stammered.
"Yes, I had noticed that." Kodachi used the tone she used in addressing her brother Tatewaki, the same tone most people used when addressing a five-year-old. The girl tried to sit up, but she was still too weak.
"I failed. Shampoo is still dead," the boy moaned.
"Fool." This time the word came from Lin-Lin's mouth. "Fool, I was never dead in the first place."
"Shampoo?"
"If Ranma and Ukyou die because I'm not there..." The girl tried to stand, but she wasn't used to Lin-Lin's smaller body, and weeks in the hospital bed hadn't helped the muscle tone. Neither she nor her new body were used to standing or walking at all any more.
"What do you mean Ranma and Ukyou might die?" Kodachi had struggled to her hands and knees, but drugged nerves and muscles still refused to obey her. "They can't die. I owe them a debt."
"Stupid Gymnast Girl can't even stand."
"You are one to talk," Kodachi declared haughtily.
"I can still crawl faster than you," Shampoo retorted.
The bickering was interrupted by the thunder of huge quantities of wood and metal striking the floor. The girls turned to see Mousse standing next to a gigantic pile of discarded weapons. Before either could protest, he scooped up both of them.
"Where?" was all he said.
oooooooooooooooooo
"Yokkyuu didn't even bother clouding our minds, Ranchan. I think that means it's getting weaker."
"Just lie still," he said. The white of her bandages was already discolored by red.
"This is a dead world," she continued, "the end of everything. We started in the beginning in that garden place like the first two people in that gaijin story. Now we're the last two people, but that's okay, because even if this world is fake, you're real and you're with me. That's all I really wanted."
She laughed softly. "I can feel the connection fading. One is gone, one has released the link, and the other two are almost exhausted. Please, give me one last kiss and then escape. You did everything you could."
He took her hand and looked into her eyes. "No, you're coming with me. You gave me the strength to escape Ikari and destroy Shinrou and...and I need you to be with me. I don't wanna be alone anymore, Ucchan."
He took a deep breath and the ghost of smile crossed his face. "I just figured what we are, Ucchan. Great timing, huh?" He tried to laugh, but choked it back before he began sobbing. "We're friends, but we ain't just friends. We're fiancées, but I got so many of those."
"Too many," she whispered, though she smiled. A coughing fit wracked her body, and she tasted blood in her mouth. "The word...the word is lovers."
"It's a good word," he replied, not bothering to brush away tears, "but it ain't the word I'm thinking of. I saw it every day in that restaurant sign, but it took a stupid Mamono and a world that ain't real to show me. That world with the police mechs, where it was raining. The couple there - they knew each other, trusted each other, worked together to be more than either one of 'em woulda been by themselves. They're partners, and so are we. We're in this together and we're staying together, no matter what comes."
She smiled.
Yokkyuu dissolved its own illusion again and they plunged into the inferno. The time for subtlety was past; this would be the final battle, continued until one side exhausted all energy and faded into nothingness. And they were only human.
oooooooooooooooooo
"Will you idiots just shut up," Natsume hissed. Her face had gone pale and she was struggling to stay conscious. "Kurumi and I need help if we're going to save my brother and his fiancée."
The others, those who still could, began babbling apologies. She told them to shut up again and began barking orders. "You, Ninja Boy, get back to where you belong. Now. Azusa or whatever your name is, get ready to start that stupid chant."
"But if she starts the chant too soon, their souls won't be close enough to escape before she finishes," Gosunkugi protested.
"I said shut up," the older girl snapped. "We have to do this now, before my sister and I and Ninja Boy pass out."
oooooooooooooooooo
"You okay?" he asked through gritted teeth. He held her close, but he couldn't shield her from this.
"No," she hissed. "This is fake...it's not real...but it hurts...so much."
They were falling through a pool of liquid flame, through a heat and fire that should have consumed eyesockets, incinerated flesh, and melted bone; yet the endless agony wouldn't end, wouldn't even fade. Ukyou's grip on him tightened, feeling like it was about to break ribs. He heard her whimper, but she didn't cry out.
"Ranchan, one of the links is back. Oh."
"What wrong, Ucchan?" He almost laughed at his own words. What wasn't wrong?
"One of them fainted," she replied, "and I think another's about to."
"So it's time to quit falling and start to fly."
"We can't," she insisted.
"Sure we can. We've been letting this stupid Mamono make up the rules, letting it decide how things are gonna work. Well, screw it and screw its stupid lies. We're gonna live in a world we make and we're gonna make the rules."
oooooooooooooooooo
"I'm sorry, Shampoo. I'm sorry, Ukyou, Ranma. I'm too weak to save you."
"Konatsu, quit whining." Natsume was still giving orders. "Gosunkugi, go see if you can wake my sister up. Azusa, don't stop chanting." She shook her head, trying to clear away a feeling of lightheadedness. "I didn't spend ten years looking for a family, just to lose it. My name is Natsume *Saotome* and we Saotomes are too stubborn to quit."
But they weren't indestructible and soon she slumped unconscious on the floor, joining her sister.
oooooooooooooooooo
"Another one fainted, Ranchan, and the last feels even farther away."
He heard the pain in her voice and wished he could wipe it away.
"Soul of Ice," he whispered.
"What?"
"Remember the Hiryu Shouten Ha, Ucchan? Use the hot chi of the enemy's attack and the cold chi of the Heart of Ice to form the whirlwind. Forget the pain, forget the fear and the anger and the sorrow. Find an inner peace, a calmness, a stillness. You're, no, we're the center of the whirlwind, the eye of the storm, and *we* are in control."
He felt the firestorm begin to spin around them even as ice began to crystallize, encasing and protecting them from Yokkyuu's searing flames.
oooooooooooooooooo
"I can't...not by myself..." Konatsu was the only link still conscious and that wouldn't last long. Gosunkugi couldn't help; his very essence was antimagical. Azusa had other duties. Konatsu's eyelids were lead; he couldn't even feel his body.
I must be seeing things.
And then it was gone, a brief flash of blue, a fading image of Ukyou and Ranma in each other's arms. Konatsu's vision faded to gray and then to black.
oooooooooooooooooo
Mousse staggered through the door and dropped Shampoo and Kodachi. Shampoo's original body lay limply on the far side of the circle. Natsume, Kurumi, and Konatsu lay at their stations, faithful until unconsciousness claimed them. Gosunkugi slumped against the wall, looking paler than ever.
"I...we lost the links." Azusa didn't know what to say.
"She's right," the skinny boy stated. "It's too late. They're gone."
"No." Shampoo spoke using Lin-Lin's body.
"They're gone," Gosunkugi insisted. The Chinese girl crawled forward, taking a place next to Konatsu's unconscious form, then glared at Azusa. "Start chanting."
Azusa began, haltingly at first, and then regaining the rhythm of the words.
"What can I do?" Kodachi asked.
"Sit down," Shampoo replied. "Focus on Ranma and Ukyou. Will them to return."
Kodachi staggered forward on legs that still didn't work properly and took her place next to Natsume. Mousse already sat next to Kurumi's unconscious form.
"I'd still be trapped as a duck if Ranma hadn't saved me," the Chinese boy explained.
"What?" No one had mentioned anything like it to Kodachi.
"No talking," Shampoo insisted. "Focus."
oooooooooooooooooo
"They're back, Ranchan. I sense three, but they're already tired, they won't last long enough for us to..."
"They don't have to," he replied. "They just have to last long enough to show us which way out is."
Flames continued swirling around the ever-growing cylinder of ice. The couple encased inside smiled. Two arms raised simultaneously, the ice popping, cracking, and reforming to match the gesture. Two voices shouted in unison.
"Kiitsu Rei Hiryu Shouten Ha!"
The United Souls Flying Dragon Ascension Wave exploded upwards with unimagined force. They sensed more than felt the Mamono screaming as a wave of utter cold engulfed it, shredding away its inhuman mocking smile.
oooooooooooooooooo
Ranma felt the hardwood floor beneath him and sat up, then looked at Ukyou. "Are you alright?"
She opened her eyes and looked up at him. "I'm thirsty, and kinda tired. Hey, who painted all this stuff on the floor of my restaurant and why are all these people sleeping on the floor?" She sighed. "I guess anything this strange has to be real."
oooooooooooooooooo